apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd say try moving one complete, and if that works, then move the others. You have four, it's not the end of the world if you lose one, but it would suck if you lost all 4!

chaseunchase, great advice. makes perfect sense.

Well, I've moved mine three times in the last four years by disassembling and reassembling them. It's a whole lot easier than trying to move it as a piece of furniture, especially if there are stairs and tight turns involved. The screws and holes are big and don't get stripped. Just be careful not to dent the particleboard in transit. I find putting them back together irritating, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad.

I moved an Expedit across town in the back of a pickup and it was fine! Just drive carefully :)

If the two apartments are so close together, I would move each bookcase on it's own. That way you don't have to reassemble them, which seems like a frustrating task. I would definitely put a lot of blankets and padding of some kind in the pickup so the bookcases don't get knocked around. Then...drive carefully.

Oh, and don't forget to keep track of the little dowels!

I'd vote for keeping it assembled. I had a really unfortunate time trying to reassemble my Expedit post-move, and the top slat hasn't sat flush since.

Why don't you try unscrewing one of the screws on the top and seeing if it screw back in ok? I think it should be fine. I sold my 4x4 and it came apart really easily and I think I probably would have heard from the girl if she couldn't get it together.

Mainly, except for the corners and the middle shelves, this is held together with wood pegs and screws with cam locks I'd suspect. As long as you didn't use glue on the pegs, taking it apart should be fine. Just leave the screws in the wood and make sure you get all the cam locks and put them in a baggie. If you leave the pegs in the holes, make sure they're tight and don't slip out durring transport.

That being said, I don't think you need to take it apart. Just tighten the cam locks before and after moving and have several people move it up right to keep it square.

I think it will stay in better condition and fit more tightly together if you keep it assembled. Just wrap it with moving blankets.

We've moved ours (the big one) three times without a problem. We just borrow a big car (like a truck or a van) and drive carefully. I would suggest a blanket or pad and you should be fine.

I would disassemble the bookcases before moving them. The problem with Ikea piece (esp when moving) is that they are made out of particle board and a very thin veneer. and when moving, there is a high likelihood of denting a corner which does irreparable damage.

If you are worried about stripped screws ikea will replace almost any hardware for free (just as for the replacement parts in their shipping and receiving or as-is section). Stripped srew holes in particle board can be repaired by simply filling in holes with wood glue and toothpicks.

I've moved even cheaper particle board book cases than the Expedit without taking them apart. Just use blankets in the truck and it should be fine. The "just move one first" advice is good.

And when you move that first one, wrap it in a quilt and then tie ropes or use bungie cords to help it hold together. Circle it from top to bottom and then from side to side. Expend a little bit of effort to protect the bookcase, and you won't have to buy a new one or add to the landfill with a broken one.

I would also suggest you use a hand truck or dolly or some sort of cart rather than carrying the bookcases. Work smarter, not harder. :-) You can probably rent a hand truck from a U-Haul location or a local moving company, or a big-box hardware store that advertises tool rental.

Leave them assembled...we just moved from CA to NM, and ours arrived intact and perfectly fine!

I would just get some blankets and lay them in the back of the truck and put the bookcases on them. The most things you should be concerned about are dents and scratches. The ikea stuff is made to be assembled and disassembled easily so, stripping of screws won't be an issue. I just took apart an Expedit last week and the toughest part was the little wooden dowels. They really like to stay in there!

I've disassembled and re-assembled mine a couple of times now to move and it's never been a problem getting them back together - takes up way less space when they're taken apart so you'll save yourself a few trips.

i moved mine and it was fine...taking it apart and reassembling was not something i wanted to add onto the whole moving process

you can easily stack 2 of the 2x4 expedits in the back of a jeep with the back seats down... MUCH faster than putting them back together.

if you're using a truck/van, or renting one anyway for the move, just go ahead and leave them together!

If you have a strap or rope lash them together upper left to lower right and vice versa. This will help them to keep from stressing the fasteners. (does that make sense?)

Also, to keep from banging up the corners, use (or make) little cardboard corners and tack them on with a little blue tape to protect those easy to damage edges. Just a few minutes prep might save the piece.

I think it would be better for the furniture to take them rather than have the screws and bits holding stuff together in weird ways. I've moved six expedits (not just my own, some more than once) and have always disassembled them. I don't think it takes long to take them apart and put them back together, and it's so much easier to carry. I have one that's been disassembled, moved, and reassembled twice that I know of (bought off CL) and is no worse for the wear.

I'm not sure of the strength of these specific Ikea pieces, but I've broken a couple pieces just trying to move them within my apartment assembled.

When I relocated from Atlanta to Chicago, I disassembled all of my ikea furniture (desk, hutch, dresser, couple of bookcases) except for the nightstands and filecart. I removed all the screws, dowels, etc. and put each in ziploc freezer bags w/ the white bar to write the name of the piece of furniture they belonged to in Sharpie. Then all of the ziplocs went into a container. Re-assembly was a breeze... of course I did remember to keep all the instruction sheets, too!

Another tip... invest in a screwdriver drill attachment and bit that's the same size/shape as the allen wrench that come with all Ikea pieces.

I wouldn't take them apart. If we ever move, we plan to keep our two 2x4 Expedits in tact. We actually lost one of the dowels while building it inside one of the units because Ikea made the hole too big. Some of the dowels were tough to put in, too, so taking them out will probably be frustrating.

ugh, why on earth would you want to add to your stress by taking it apart and putting it back together? i know they're not super complicated (having just put together two a few weeks ago) but all those parts and screws and dowels...if you lose even one thing it's a trip to ikea for spare parts or saying byebye to the whole shebang. i'd attempt to move them as is... just wrap them very carefully, maybe tape cardboard pieces around all the edges and corners...as if it's going to get damaged, that's the spot.

If you're moving yourself, I think keeping it intact is fine, as long as you protect the corners and edges. My husband and I just moved a month ago to a new place that is one block away from the old place, and we both have an Expedit - his is the medium size, and my bookshelf is the largest size. We used movers (not a great idea in hindsight) - and although both arrived in one piece and are usable - mine is pretty wobbly now when it used to be very stable. I think the smaller the bookshelf the better in this case since they're composed of so many tiny pieces. (And, of course, the more careful you are, the better...)

If you have easy access to and from both places I'd try to move one as-is to see how that goes. Just make sure to wrap it, as has been said.

If you do have to disassemble, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have many Ikea pieces and when I moved I disassembled all of them and had no trouble at all in re-assembly. And now, two years later, all pieces are still going strong and have survived many a re-organisation of my space.

I had such a hard time putting mine together in the first place, I wouldn't dream of taking it apart again. I think I would probably just wrap the whole thing in blankets and then stick it in a u-haul.

I agree with ilbirs - if you're going to move it intact, I would suggest taking care to keep it square. Those little cam locks can spring if they're under stress, and you can end up with loose corners and a slanted unit.

KEEP it assembled!!! My Ikea coffee table's legs would not screw back in correctly no matter what we did! It wobbles all the time. Ikea is good for one assembly ONLY!

OP here, thanks for everyone's opinions. I love the idea of moving one and seeing how it holds up, but I'm moving on a crazy timeline where I have to get out of one apartment and turn over the keys the same day I get the keys to my new place. (My roommate's old landlord gave her more leeway. Lucky girl!)

So I'm leaning towards taking them apart, just to make the whole thing faster. Thanks to Comicgeek for the tip about filling in stripped holes. That was my biggest concern. And Benjy is totally right about skipping the little Allen wrenches. Although I've always used the bits with the ratcheting screwdriver because I'm afraid I'll really strip it out with a drill.

I moved an Ikea bed by disassembling it. Some of the dowels were stuck in it and were broken off in transport. Actually, the whole thing got pretty scratched beaten up. Whatever you do, I would wrap it in a furniture blanket to move it. The veneer is thin and easily scratched.

Make sure everything you move is securely tied down! Washington has some of the toughest tie down laws in the country.

THEY ARE SO EASY TO TAKE APART AND PUT BACK TOGETHER, JUST DO IT.

i have a 5x5 and plan on leaving in in my apartment if i ever have to move.

YOU MUST DISASSEMBLE!!!

I have moved my expedit bookcases BOTH ways.

The first time I left assembled. They were wayyy to heavy and they were so bulky, and they were damaged in the moving process going around corners, scraping against walls.

The second time I moved I took them apart. SO MUCH BETTER! Keep the dowels in, and you only have four screws to screw in with an allan wrench.

I recommend disassembling because it will leave your bookcases in better condition, you can get more help moving them (people who are not as strong can pick up as many pieces as are comfortable), if you have narrow corners to curve around it is not a problem, and it only takes 20 mins to put back together.

I have done it both ways- I would know!

I have moved my 5x5 EXPEDIT 4 times, disassembled each time, never encountered any problems, and at the end of 6 years (and 4 moves) sold it on Craigslist because it no longer fit the decor for half of a new one - so I would highly recommend disassembling it, it will be easier to move and less damaging to the book-case.

My 5x5 EXPEDIT fell apart in the latest move, because the movers loaded it down with boxes! I guess they aren't really designed to hold all that weight while blasting down the freeway at 65mph . . .

Oh well - didn't really go in my new apartment, anyhow. I figure if I ever need one again, I can always buy one used on Craigslist, as there are a zillion of them out there now.

One cool thing you can do with the big EXPEDIT is put big locking casters on the bottom of it. I did that with mine, and I loved it. Made it a snap to move for cleaning, gave it a little more height, and when I moved into an apartment on the 6th floor of a highrise with miles of hallways, we were able to just wheel it from the truck to the elevator and then over to my apartment.

I'm thinking maybe all furniture for us frequent-movers should be on wheels . . .

Anyhow, my advice is not to disassemble it, believe it or not. You're already under enough stress. Just wrap it well - something else my movers didn't do - and it should be alright.